Just Short of Impossible
by MoonlightTyger
Summary: Luke knows there isn't anything he could have done, but that doesn't stop him from grieving.


_No, it's not a new chapter to anything else, nor the ToV fic I've been working on, but it's something. It's nowhere near perfect, but I hope you enjoy it anyhow._

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**ATTENTION**, Readers! This fic contains **SPOILERS** for _Tales of the Abyss_ **upto the point of the Absorption Gate**. Those who have **not** reached this point, and/or do not want to be spoiled, **please stop reading now**. Thank you.

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Tales copyright or the characters; I am merely a fan who enjoys writing about them. All rights belong to Namco; character designs (c) Kosuke Fujishima.**

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**Just Short of Impossible**

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And then at last, the deciding blow was made - that which would decide who would win, and who would lose - and Van stopped, tiredly stepping backwards.

"I never thought I would be defeated by such a failure." Van cackled madly, "Oh how utterly ironic...Heh heh heh." With that, and a twisted smile on his face, he cast himself over the side of the Sephiroth, into the Core.

That was it.

Though they, with Asch's help, succeeded in lowering the Outer Lands, it was with heavy heart that they left the Gate. Three of them had lost someone dear to them that day, and the other three - despite any words to the contrary - sympathized with them.

The group didn't remove Van's sword. They left it there, in the ground where he had stuck it, as a small nod of respect to the man the Commandant had once been, a nod of pity toward a man whose attempts to destroy the Score had ultimately destroyed him.

And so they were all resigned. Van had been a friend and mentor to Guy, a mentor and teacher to Luke, and a father to Tear. Jade, the eldest of this group, looked at the "children" around him with a sort of father's pride, if he were indeed capable of such a thing. It had been a difficult task that they had had before them - as much emotionally as physically - but they had pressed forward, all of them, had done what needed doing, and they had succeeded. They had conquered. All of them - even Luke, especially Luke - had grown a great deal over the course of their travels together. Following behind the group, taking up the rear where no one could see him, Jade allowed himself a genuine smile.

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It was later that night; the group had long since left the Absorption Gate and were back in Keterburg. They would spend the night here at the hotel before continuing on to Daath the next day. Van might be dead, and the Outer Lands lowered, but there was still much work to be done, especially on the part of the Fonmaster and other world leaders.

Ah, but the hour was growing late, now; Jade had best be getting back to the rooms and into bed. It wouldn't do to have those youngsters rising before he did, after all - they'd never let him hear the end of it. This way, at least, _he _was entitled to do all the teasing.

He walked out of the elevator and made his way toward the room he shared with Luke, Guy, and Ion. Normally, Nephry arranged for them to all their own rooms, but some great event - he could not quite recall what it was - was transpiring in town, and alas, even as Governor she was only able to arrange two, meaning they had to share. Jade didn't really mind, but it was rather bothersome when he wanted solitude....

He now stood outside the door, ready to go in, but a strange sound from within caught his ears; a sob? Was Luke crying out in his sleep again?

Jade turned the knob and entered, seeing a sight that inwardly tugged at whatever piece of his heart that was left (he was a monster, after all). There, sitting on one of the beds, was Luke, held fast in an embrace by Guy, the devoted servant who had been - in addition to Van - both brother and father to the replica.

"Why?" Luke's muffled, choked sobs hung in the air; quiet, so as not to wake the Fonmaster sleeping on the next bed. Neither Luke nor Guy seemed aware that Jade had walked in. "Why?" Luke half-choked again, and the Necromancer could see tears running down his face. "He didn't have to die like that! He could have helped us, been with us in a world without the Score! We tried to get through to him, we tried to save him! But he didn't listen, he didn't give anyone a chance! We..._couldn't_ save him...."

"I know, Luke," the kind-hearted blond answered, holding his charge close, "I know. I know you wanted to save him, to help him. I wanted it, too, Luke. I wanted to help him, too."

At this, Jade came over and put an unexpected hand on Luke's shoulder. The boy looked up at him, wonderingly.

"There is _nothing_ you could have done, Luke," Jade said firmly, not allowing room for argument. "Do you understand? _Nothing_ you could have done. Not you, not Guy, not Tear, perhaps not even Yulia herself. I realize that this man was an important person in your life, but you must not blame yourself for his final choices. There is not _anything_, that you or anyone else could have done. Swaying Van from his course of destruction was a task just short of impossible."

"Jade's right, Luke," Guy said gently. "Every time we spoke...I would see it in his eyes. The Van we knew - or thought we knew - died a long time ago."

"I...I _know_," Luke's voice was husky, "but I just...I just can't help but _wish_ that...." Luke trailed off, crying into his hands. Guy rubbed his back comfortingly, and even the Colonel gave the redhead's shoulder a small squeeze.

"I know, Luke," Guy said again, sadly, "I know."

There was a brief pause from the redhead.

"Please...don't tell Tear."

- - - - - - -

The room next door was silent. Noelle and Natalia, even little Anise were fast asleep. All save Tear...for only in the dead silence of the night did she dare crumble and cry...and grieve for her lost, wayward brother.

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**AUTHOR'S NOTES:**

Fastest that I've ever written a one-shot or otherwise; begun at around 1:40 am and finished it a little over an hour later (that was a few days ago - couldn't sleep; had heavy stuff on my mind). Please forgive the roughness - nowhere near as polished as it could be, I know - but it was more or less a plot bunny of sorts.

In any case, I hope you all enjoyed it; thank you all for reading!

~MoonlightTyger

**CREDITS:**

Van's lines at the beginning are pretty much taken verbatim from the game (I only excluded a few "Heh heh"s XDDD); many thanks to the fans who took the time to write down (and post online) the game's script; that saved me a lot of time!

The entire script for Abyss' main story can be found here (take out the spaces): **www. hidden-currents. org/abyss**


End file.
